Lighter



Sept. 10, 1935.

J. SMITH 2,013,866

LIGHTER Original Filed Oct. '18, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 V INVENTOR JosephL. Sm

BY M Y W'ATTORNEYS J. L. SMITH Sept. 10, 1935.

LIGHTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 18, 1928 Y INVENTOR Joseph1161221112,

I BY ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 10, 1935 LIGHTER Joseph L. Smith, Buffalo,N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Faries Manufacturing Company,Decatur, 111., a corporation of Illinois 1932, Serial No. 596,862

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in lighters and particularly tothat type of lighter in which a torch carrying an inflammable substanceis ignited by an electric spark, as disclosed in my copendingapplication, Serial No. 313,304,

filed October 18, 1928, for improvements in lightters, which issuedNovember 1, 1932, as Patent No. 1,885,869, of which this application isa division.

The present invention comprehends, generally,

the provision of means for igniting an inflammable substance carried bya torch member, the latter preferably including an absorbent element, tobe saturated with fuel, carried by a metallic stem. The igniter includesan insulating base carrying an electrode or spark button arranged in asecondary circuit of high potential and associated with switch means ina primary circuit, the switch means being operable by insertion of thetorch into the igniter, whereby an electric spark will be directed fromthe spark button to the metallic stem of torch member, for igniting theinflammable substance or fuel carried by the absorbent element. Thearrangement of the electrodes or spark means of the secondary circuitwithin the unitary igniter base precludes the likelihood of contact ofthe spark with external objects or with the hand of the operator.

7 These and other objects and advantages, in-

cluding those relating to the formation and arrangement of parts, willbecome apparent from the following description of one typical embodimentof the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a complete device thatincorporates the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, vertical section, taken at right angles to theview of Fig. 1, through the igniter.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating electrical circuits of thedevice.

v In the drawings I have shown the device mounted within a casingadapted for use as a cigar lighter, but it is obvious that the elementsof the device may be differently arranged for use as a cigar lighter ina smokers stand, or

as a lighter for use in a kitchen or on an automobile.

In the illustrated form in the drawings, it represents the casing of thedevice which may have a top H and side walls 12. Carried by one of theside walls I2 is the spark coil 13 having primary and secondary windingsand an electric battery l 4 in circuit with the primary winding.

Arranged at some convenient place in the top I l is the insulating baseor electrode sleeve iii of my device. This member is preferably ofporce- 5 lain or other durable insulating material and is provided witha rather deep mouth or well ll beneath which is an enlarged bore l8,thus providing a shoulder 19. Mounted in the bore I8 is a movable shankor secondary electrode 2! having 10 an enlarged head 29 for abutmentwith the shoulder I9. The shank extends downwardly through a guideaperture in a plate 22 arranged at the bottom of the insulating base andalso through an insulating switch plate 23 for actuat- 15 ing a primarycircuit switch 2 1, to be hereinafter described. The insulating base isprovided at its base with a peripheral flange 2%; which delineates areduced portion 26. An aperture 21 is formed in the top H of the casing,and the reduced por- 20 tion is adapted to fit into this aperture. Anescutcheon plate 28 may be placed under the flange if desired.

The guide plate 22 is held against the lower surface of the reducedportion 26 of the insulat- 25 ing igniter base or electrode sleeve by abolt 29, which is securely cemented or otherwise fastened within thebase and extends outwardly beyond the surface of the base. A nut 39threaded to bolt 29 serves to retain the guide plate in posi- 30 tion.The outer end of the bolt extends through a plate 3! which engages theunder surface of the top H, and carries a nut 32 for securing the baseto the casing. This bolt may also serve as a terminal for a high tensionwire 33 of the sec- 35 ondary circuit. Disposed within the bore l8 ofthe insulating base is a helical contact spring 36 which extends aboutthe shank 2 I, being confined between plate 22 and head 20 of the shank.This spring electrically connects plate 22 with the 40 member 2! andserves to maintain the latter in its upper position as shown in thedrawings.

The electrode base or sleeve 15 is provided with a stationary secondaryelectrode or spark button 31, the latter extending through, and be- 45ing secured within, an aperture 38 formed in the base near the upper endof the well ll. This electrode is connected to a high tension wire 39,one end of which passes into and through a hole 49 formed in the sleeve.The other end of the 50 high tension wire 39 is connected to a secondaryterminal $3 of the spark coil 13, while the high tension wire 33 isconnected to the secondary terminal A2 of the coil. v

. As shown in Fig. 2, the insulated switch plate 55 23 is secured to thebottom surface of the top H of the casing and extends centrally acrossthe opening 2'! formed in the top. As hereinbefore stated, the shank orplunger 2i passes into and through this plate and has its lower endengaged with a switch arm 45 of the primary circuit switch 24, so thatas the movable member 2| is depressed, as hereafter described, theswitch arm 45 will be moved downwardly into contact with a switch arm46, so as to close the primary circuit. The switch arms 55 and #61 arecarried by the insulated switch plate 23 and are held in place by bolts4'! and it, respectively, which bolts also provide terminals for primarywires 49 and 50, respectively. Primary wire 59 is connected to theprimary terminal 5! of the spark coil 13, and primary wire 49 isconnected to a terminal 52 of the battery It. The other terminal 53 ofthe battery [4 is connected to the secondary terminal 43 of the sparkcoil by a wire 54. As illustrated in the drawings, the spark coilemployed in this device is one having but three terminals, one terminalserving as a combined primary and secondary terminal. Obviously, wheretwo separate primary terminals are employed, the wire 54 would beconnected to the second individual primary terminal.

Arranged at some convenient place in the top ll of the case is the fueltank 60 of my device. This tank is preferably set into an opening Elformed in the top, and is held in position by means of an annular flange62 formed on the tank, which engages with the upper surface of the topII. The body 63 of the tank is preferably made of sheet metal having abottom 84 and a top 65. The top is provided with a centrally arrangedfiller opening into which is screwthreaded a feed tube 66. This tube isprovided with a flange 61 which contacts with the top 6.5 of the tank,where it may be sealed by a suitable gasket if desired. The lower end ofthe tube extends substantially to the bottom 66. of the tank. Risingfrom the top of the tube is a funnel 68 which acts as a holder for thetorch 69, and also serves to extinguish the flame of the torch when itis placed within the tube. The central opening of the tube is filledwith plugs 10 of felt or other suitable material which will readilyabsorb liquid fuel in the tank, but which will positively seal thecontents of the tank against explosion. In the lower portion of the tubeare formed a plurality of feed openings, which may take the form ofperforations or of longitudinal slots 17 as shown in Fig. 3. In theupper end of the tube is a cylinder ll, which may be also of felt orother tightly woven fabric material provided with a central bore 12,with which the absorbent element E3 of the torch is engageable. Thetorch is preferably provided with a handle 14 made of suitableinsulating material, such as porcelain or bakelite. A metallic rod orstem 15 is fastened in the lower end of the handle 1 3 for carrying theabsorbent element 13. The absorbent element may be made of any suitablematerial but is preferably of asbestos cord wound about a core andfastened in place by a semi-spherical washer '16, at each end of theelement.

When my device is to be put into operation, the torch 69 is removed fromthe feed tube and funnel 68, where it has been saturated with theinflammable fluid contained within the feed tank. The absorbent element73 of the torch is now placed within the mouth ll of the electrodesleeve I6, and the semi-spherical washer it at the lower end of thetorch brought into contact with the head of member 2!. The torch is nowdepressed, thereby moving the electrode 2!! downwardly against theresistance of spring 36, and since the lower end of the member 2| is incontact with the primary switch arm Q5, this arm will also be moveddownwardly until it contacts with the primary switch arm 46. This servesto close the primary circuit which energizes the spark coil and causes ahigh tension spark to pass from the stationary secondary electrode or 1spark button 3'! into adjacency with the absorbent portion E3 of thetorch, the electrical current arcing from the member 31 to the portionof the stem 15 beneath the absorbent portion or to the washer 15adjacent thereto, and 1 thence flowing through the electrode 28. Thetorch will thus be ignited and may be removed from the mouth ll of thebase IE to be used to ignite whatever is desired, after which it may beplaced within the mouth of the fuel container 2 to extinguish the flameand replenish the torch with fuel for subsequent use.

Obviously, some modifications of the details herein shown and describedmay be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or 25 thescope of the appended claims, and I do not, therefore, wish to belimited to the exact embodiment herein shown and described, the formshown being merely a preferred embodiment thereof. gm 3 What is claimedis:

1. An igniter for a smoking device, or the like, comprising aninsulating base having an open ing therethrough for receiving a torch, aspark button carried by said base upon an upper wall 3 portion of theopening, a contact element beneath said opening, and a member disposedin said opening and movable by the torch into electrical connection withsaid element.

2. An igniter comprising an insulating base 4, having an openingtherethrough, said opening having a shoulder intermediate the endsthereof, a guide member at one end of the base, a contact member havinga stem movable in said guide member and opening and having a head 45.

confined between the guide member and shoulder, a contact elementbeneath the guide member for electrical connection with the contactmember when the latter is moved to space the head from the shoulder,resilient means for urging the con- 5 tact member into abutment with theshoulder, and an electrical spark button on the wall of said openingadjacent the side of the base opposite the guide member.

3. In apparatus of the class described, an in- 5 sulating electrodesleeve formed with a central bore terminating in a deeply formed mouth,a movable secondary circuit member mounted within the bore, means fornormally retaining said movable member at the upper end of the 6 boreand at the lower end of the mouth, a stationary secondary circuitelectrode carried by said sleeve adjacent the upper end of the mouththereof, a primary circuit switch and mechanical means connecting saidmovable member with 65 5. An igniter for a torch comprising aninsulating base having an opening therethrough, an electrode carried bysaid base upon an upper wall portion of the opening, a contact memberbeneath said opening and supported by the base, movable conductor meanscarried by the base adjacent the lower end of the opening and movableinto contact with said contact member, and resilient means for normallyretaining said movable conductor means out of contact with the contactmember.

6. A lighter comprising an insulating base having a relatively deep wellreceding from one face thereof for receiving the metallic stem of atorch carrying an inflammable substance, a contact member at the base ofthe well for being con tacted by such stem of the torch when the latteris inserted in the well, an electrode carried by the base adjacent themouth of the well, whereby electricity may pass between the electrodeand contact member by arcing between the electrode carried by the baseand the stem of the torch when the latter engages the contact member.

7. A lighter for operating in conjunction with a torch of the typehaving a metallic stem surrounded by a body containing an ignitablesubstance, comprising a one piece electrode sleeve formed with a centralbore terminating at its upper end in a deeply formed mouth for receivinga torch, an electrode mounted within the bore and adapted to becontacted by the metallic stem of the torch, and another electrodecarried by 15

